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The Caspian Sea is a completely landlocked body of water situated in central Asia. The Caspian Sea is often referred to as the world's largest lake, although the waters of the sea are salt water, making it officially an endhoreic sea rather than a lake.
The Caspian Sea covers an area of 317,000 square kilometers, making it the world's largest inland body of water, is 211 meters deep, has a coastline of about 7,000 kilometers and has a salinity level of 1.2%, one third less than that of the earth's other seas and oceans. The Caspian Sea also lies at an altitude of twenty eight meters below sea level.
The sea bed of the Caspian Sea was formed about 5.5 million years ago by tectonic uplift and a fall in sea levels in the area.The sea has no outflow only evaporation, therefore it is classified as a closed basin, although it is fed by one hundred and thirty rivers, the largest of which is Russia's longest river, the 3,692 kilometer long, River Volga, which supplies the Caspian Sea with 80% of it's freshwater. Other major rivers which also feed the Caspian Sea are the River Ural, the River Terek and the River Kura.
The Caspian Sea borders five countries, Azerbaijan to it's west, Iran to it's south, Kazakhstan to it's north east, Russia to it's west and Turkmenistan to it's south east.
This coastline contains several port cities, the largest of which is Baku, pictured above, the capital of Azerbaijan, which is also home to the Caspian Sea's largest sea port, the Baku International Sea Trade Port. Other large towns and cities also include Astan and Lankaran in Azerbaijan, Chalus, Ramsar, Nur and Gorgan in Iran, Aqtau the main seaport of Kazakhstan, Astrakhan in Russia, Makhachkala, the regional capital of Russia's Republic of Dagestan and Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan's only sea port.
The Caspian Sea contains twenty six islands, non of which are inhabited and most of which lie off the coast of Azerbaijan's Baku Bay, which include the islands of Pirallhi, Buyuk Zira, Gil, Qum, Bulla and Chikil. The three largest islands are the uninhabited Ogurja Ada of Turkmenistan and Russia's Chechen Island and Durneva Island.
The Caspian Sea is known to have several endemic species of wildlife, including the Caspian Sea Seal, the Caspian Sea Gull, the Kutum Fish and the Caspian Sea Salmon. The waters of the Caspian Sea are also home to large numbers of sturgeon, zebra mussels and carp.
The Caspian Sea coast is the site of four national parks, the Astrakhan National Park in Russia, the Gizil Agac National Park in Azerbaijan, the Khazar National Park in Turkmenistan and the Golestan National Park in Iran.
The Caspian Sea is unique for having been the site of the world's first ever offshore oil field, situated off the coast of Baku in Azerbaijan as far back as 1873. Today the sea is the site of several offshore oil terminals, the largest of which is the Azeri - Chirag - Guneshli oil field situated in the coastal waters of Azerbaijan.
The Caspian Sea is also home to several, major cargo routes and ferry services, including large train ferries. The sea also has two major passenger ferry services, located between Baku and Aktau in Kazakhstan and Baku and Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan.
The Caspian Sea is linked to the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea by way of the 101 kilometer long, Volga - Don Canal, and linked to the Baltic Sea and the White Sea by the 700 kilometer long, Manych Ship Canal, see map below, a vast canal system which links the two areas by way of the River Volga and the 227 kilometer long White Sea Canal, which passes through Russia's Lake Onega, and the 368 kilometer long, Volga - Baltic Waterway, which passes through Russia's Lake Ladoga.
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